Adhesion of bacteria to a surface, or “capture,” is used in a variety of applications, for example in purification devices or bacterial sensors. Selective bacteria capture is particularly useful in sensors, for example. Subsequent release of the bacteria is useful in online bacterial sensors where after a positive sensing event, the bacteria are released from the surface, and the renewed surface can be used to continue sensing. Such sensors can be operated continuously. In some applications, killing of the bacteria before release is desirable. For example, surfaces that kill bacteria on contact are desirable for biomedical devices and surfaces in public spaces. Prior art surfaces typically must balance killing functionality with ease of the release of bacteria in order to provide nonfouling surfaces and regeneration, which has not been successfully achieved. Accordingly, prior art methods often require substantial chemical processes to remove the bacteria and regenerate their adhesive surfaces. Easy removal of the captured bacteria (living or dead) would be especially useful to avoid fouling of the surfaces.
There accordingly remains a need for methods for bacteria capture with the capacity to release and/or kill the bacteria. There is a particular need in the art for methods for bacteria capture and release using renewable surfaces, and for bacterial capture, kill, and release using renewable surfaces. There further remains a need in the art for improved methods for selective bacteria capture. The selectivity can be for bacteria in the presence of other biomolecules (e.g., proteins, carbohydrates, and the like), or in the presence of other cells, for example for specific bacterial strains.